Ricky Gervais was criticised for his portrayal of Derek Noakes – but the show was a hit with viewers (Picture: YouTube)

A new trailer for the Ricky Gervais comedy-drama Derek – which has been made into a full series following its successful pilot episode earlier this year – has been released online.

The three-minute clip sees Gervais reprising his role as title character Derek Noakes, a middle-aged innocent who works in a nursing home – and once again adopts a ‘mockumentary’ format, previously used by the funnyman in the likes of The Office, Extras and Life’s Too Short.

Karl Pilkington also shows up in the trailer, reprising the role of Derek’s follicly-challenged best friend Dougie.

As well as montage footage of the show, the last scene of the preview consists almost entirely of outtakes from Gervais and Pilkington – including one moment when the latter fluffs a line about his bald patch which featured earlier in the trailer.

Karl Pilkington reprises his role in the comedy drama as nursing home caretaker Dougie (Picture: YouTube)

Derek is set to be shown on Channel 4 some time in 2013 and will debut in the US on the on-demand streaming service Netflix.

The pilot episode, which was screened in the spring, pulled in an audience of 2.3m but Gervais’ portrayal of the title character caused some controversy, with some critics suggesting he was mocking the disabled.

However Gervais denied the character was meant in that way, saying: ‘If I say I don’t mean him to be disabled then that’s it. A fictional doctor can’t come along and prove me wrong. He’s different. But then so are a lot of people.’

He also said that he had been bored by the controversy.

‘Every single week has been the end of my career if you believe six or seven journalists,’ he told Five Live’s Richard Bacon just before the show was screened. ‘It make no difference to me or my work, I’m happy with it.’